The Arms of the Ocean
by thelegendofappa
Summary: Mako musings and pillow talk. Inspired by "Never Let Me Go" by Florence the Machine.


_**A/N: Inspired by "Never Let Me Go" by Florence+the Machine**_

Falling was a scary thing, Mako realized as he observed the way the morning light played off of Korra's skin. Especially when you when you had no idea of your destination. And Mako wasn't one for throwing caution to the wind. He was a strategist, carefully calculating each move, every word. He found his comfort in the knowledge that everything was going to be okay. Call it a survival instinct from life on the streets, but he didn't know any other way to live. He didn't understand how everyone around him could be so content when the future ahead was murky and uncertain. Uncertainty _petrified_ him. It was like falling into nothing. And in his life, falling was never an option.

That is, until he met her.

Maybe he'd known it all along, Mako mused as he brushed his fingers over her bare shoulder. From the first glance they had shared, he was a goner. She had captured her with her strange and wonderful freedom. The way she never thought ahead of herself. The way everything in the world seemed to fascinate her. The way she approached life from a head-on angle, never thinking about the consequences. It was endearing and exciting and slightly scary but intoxicating all at once.

And suddenly, she had welcomed him into her life, showing him new ways to live, different ways to feel. And now he was drowning, sinking into her. And at times, it astounded him that she was the _Avatar_, the sum of thousands of lifetimes of knowledge and wisdom in the form of a human girl. But she wasn't the Avatar to him. Just Korra. Even without her bending, she would still be Korra. Nothing could ever change that.

Mako felt Korra stirring in his arms, turning over on her side to face him. Her blue eyes were as brilliant as ever, sparkling like the bay did when rays of sunlight hit it just right. She blinked once at him, clearing the sleep from her eyes. A lazy smile spread across her face as she leaned into him, their foreheads touching.

"Good Morning, City Boy." Korra breathed, her words ghosting over his skin like a breeze. He responded by pressing his lips to hers, slipping his arms over her soft skin, encircling her waist. She giggled, a beautiful, musical sound.

Their lips collided against each other not-so gently. He coaxed her mouth open, kissing her until they were both forced to break apart due to lack of air. He peppered her neck with kisses, pleased when he was rewarded with her breathy sigh.

"Are you happy?" He asked, his lips brushing against the hollow of her neck. He felt her chest rise and fall with each breath she took. She moved her hand to the back of his head, playing with hair.

"Of course I'm happy." Korra replied, a grin on her face and a content, distant look in her eyes. "What about you?"

He smiled, his lips caressing the junction of her shoulder and neck. "You know I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Korra shrugged, her eyes drifting to a far corner of the bedroom.

"I don't know," She admitted. "It's stupid, really…" His mouth traveled past her neck to the corner of her lips.

"Tell me." He urged gently. Korra's skin blushed a faint pink.

"I-It's just that…I thought that you didn't…_enjoy_ yourself. Last night." Korra stumbled over her words, nervously avoiding his gaze. Mako paused in his ministrations against her skin, looking up at her with a slightly amused look in his eyes.

"Is that it?" He chuckled. "You didn't think that last night wasn't the best night of my life?" Korra bit her lip and avoided his intense gaze. Mako leaned close, brushing the hair from her eyes. He felt her aroma wash over him; a touch of jasmine paired with the light, clean scent of the ocean. He claimed her mouth, gently running the tip of his tongue over her velvet lips before requesting entrance to them. She obliged, eagerly opening her mouth to him. She breathed in his gasps and he swallowed her doubts and insecurities.

They broke apart, slightly breathless. Korra gazed at him with hooded eyes, a potential smile lifting the corners of her lips.

"Did you really like it?" Korra inquired, her hand drifting down the valley between his shoulder blades.

"Of course." He answered, bumping noses with her. "I love you. You know that, right?"

"Oh, I know." Korra hummed in her chest, a satisfied grin on her face. And she loved him, but she never had to say it. Korra was never eloquent with words, but she could say so much just in that way that she _was_. The way she played with his hair, the special looks she reserved only for him, the way she whispered his name. Like a secret. Or a prayer.

He was entirely consumed with her. Everything she was, everything she did. She was constantly changing, rippling, crashing against the shore. She was the ocean, and he just happened to be swept up in her current. She was impossible to tame, and he could only hope that she would stay with him for a while before the tide pulled her out to the sea again.

Mako lay in her arms, pressing his ear against her chest to listen to her heartbeat. In resounded in his skull, reminding him that she was _here_ with him. Her hair was splayed upon the pillow behind her and her eyes were still puffy with sleep. Her movements were slow and languid. Mako decided that he liked Korra this way. Natural, vulnerable In her purest form.

"You know what's weird?" Korra asked suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"I've never felt like this before." She spoke in a whisper, as if describing some profound enigma. "I've never been this happy in my life. It's strange." Mako nodded against the soft skin of her stomach.

"I know what you mean. But it's a good kind of strange."

Korra sighed. "Yeah." Mako buried his nose in her skin, her essence breaking over him. He would be content to wake up every morning of his life like this.

And suddenly he felt that familiar falling sensation, slipping off the edge of a cliff to plummet into the waiting arms of the waters below. He was drowning under the pressure of the waves, not sure when he might have an opportunity to resurface. The cold, crushing waves swallowed him whole, dragging him to ocean floor.

But it was okay. Because as long as it was Korra, he wasn't afraid to fall.

**_A/N: Yay for Makorra pillow talk. I was having Florence feels and Makorra feels, so they collided in my brain to create this._**


End file.
